The Portfolio group will have to liaise closely with the Maths and English departments and with the groups looking at the promotion of literacy and numeracy across the school. Close scrutiny of the Outcomes and Experiences will be necessary. The school needs to identify "3Rs" baseline levels, clarify how they will be taught across the school and decide how competency will be recorded. For example, a starting point - and of course this would be just one aspect of literacy - might be to return to the vocabulary lists drawn up by Mr Pole a couple of years ago, revise them to include subject specific words plus commonplace words which are often spelt wrongly or misused and then have every single teacher insist that they are used correctly. Children could be made to write them out several times if they get them wrong, in every classroom. Very old-fashioned, very effective...if we all did it! There is huge value in repetition, albeit that we must strive to teach and assess formatively as well. Also quite simple, but requiring consistency, would be the application of the correction code which was also put together by Mr Pole's group. More complex is how we capture and record the child's performance and progress effectively and efficiently.
The Portfolio group will have to liaise closely with the Maths and English departments and with the groups looking at the promotion of literacy and numeracy across the school. Close scrutiny of the Outcomes and Experiences will be necessary. The school needs to identify "3Rs" baseline levels, clarify how they will be taught across the school and decide how competency will be recorded. For example, a starting point - and of course this would be just one aspect of literacy - might be to return to the vocabulary lists drawn up by Mr Pole a couple of years ago, revise them to include subject specific words plus commonplace words which are often spelt wrongly or misused and then have every single teacher insist that they are used correctly. Children could be made to write them out several times if they get them wrong, in every classroom. Very old-fashioned, very effective...if we all did it! There is huge value in repetition, albeit that we must strive to teach and assess formatively as well. Also quite simple, but requiring consistency, would be the application of the correction code which was also put together by Mr Pole's group. More complex is how we capture and record the child's performance and progress effectively and efficiently.